When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much You Get Paid'

Re:When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much Y... by falcolas on Saturday January 24, 2015 @11:08AM (#8939937)

This is less of an issue now than it used to be; most companies offer Paternity leave for the same amount of time these days. This amortizes the cost across all employees.

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Re:When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much Y... by orangecat on Saturday January 24, 2015 @11:28AM (#8940000)

Maybe to some extent, but not fully: - Not every birth has an active father involved. - The physical effects of pregnancy will will likely require the mother to take more time off. - Not all men will want to take extended paternity leave. You can try to force them, but that has its own issues, and makes single men more attractive employees.

Mandating that companies pay employees not to work puts them in an awkward position where they're incentivized to discriminate. If government wants to encourage people to have kids, then government should pay parents directly.

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Re:When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much Y... by secabeen on Saturday January 24, 2015 @11:59AM (#8940113)

Yep. Even though I had support from my employer, I took less paternity leave at the time of birth than I thought I would. Many parents find they want a break from the baby after the first few weeks, and enjoy returning to work.

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Re:When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much Y... by TheLoneWolfling on Saturday January 24, 2015 @01:36PM (#8940464)

Men take less paternity leave on average than women take maternity leave.

Not to mention that in the case of single births, you'll end up with the women taking maternity leave while the men don't. And with marriage stats the way they are...

Which means that it's still advantageous for the company to hire men over women. Amortizing costs doesn't magically make the cost go away, it just hides it.

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Re:When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much Y... by acveilleux on Saturday January 24, 2015 @02:52PM (#8940744)

Depends on locale. In Quebec, men pretty much always take their paternity leave (at least 3 weeks, up to 5) and most of the maternity leave can be transferred to the father (up to 25-32 weeks, leaving the mother the minimum of 15-18 weeks) as well. That last part is uncommon but it does happen when the mother is the couple's highest earner (say a partner in a legal firm or a doctor) since the mat leave benefits are capped.

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Re:When the Boss Says, 'Don't Tell Your Coworkers How Much Y... by TheLoneWolfling on Sunday January 25, 2015 @11:52AM (#8943334)

Incorrect. Yes, Quebec has less of a split than elsewhere in Canada. However it's 97% of females take paid leave versus 72% of males, and 48.4 weeks paid leave on average versus 5.5 weeks. That's not exactly on par. And I don't know in what universe 76% is considered "pretty much always".

And it doesn't even cover the case when the mother and father split before birth.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-008-x/2012002/article/11697-...

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